The transformation began with subtraction. David Young of DWY Landscape Architects stripped away the turf, the ornamental plantings, the driveway that encroached on a century-old oak tree. What replaced them was denser, greener, more ecologically functional—a modern landscape that filters stormwater, supports biodiversity and feels like a private, botanical sanctuary despite sitting on an urban lot with no backyard.
The site, which Young worked on alongside a home renovation by Hive Architects, sits at the southern property line of two combined lots running east to west. With no space for a traditional backyard, the driveway, pool and outdoor lounge areas all had to live out front. Meanwhile, the existing landscape leaned heavily on turf and ornamental plants, lacking the density the clients desired. “They wanted to arrive on their property and feel like they could walk around without anyone seeing them,” the landscape architect says.
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Photography by Seamus Payne
exterior modern home at dusk HOME 2026
Landscape architect David Young pushed the perimeter wall about 12 feet closer to the road, creating a wider, wilder private realm. Perforated aluminum screens between the driveway and outdoor entertainment areas direct circulation and cast geometric shadows throughout the day, a strategy repeated on the home’s facade to shield second-floor bedrooms.
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Photography by Seamus Payne
modern entryway with plants HOME 2026
It was an apt challenge for the Fort Myers native, who established his practice in Sarasota after working with prestigious firms in Naples and describes his approach as clean and contemporary. “I like defined edges, good geometry, good forms—as humans, we appreciate structure,” he says. But structure alone is rigid. “I like to create some structure, then break it for visual interest—to introduce shadow play,” he adds.
His first major move on this project was spatial. Young relocated a perimeter wall about 12 feet closer to the property line, creating more room around the pool, a better sense of arrival and a chance for the team to reposition the driveway 24 feet away from the oak. “The tree was looking stressed. We felt that, if we could give more area to the root zone, that would allow it to take up more nutrients and oxygen,” he says.
The relocated wall enabled a new circulation strategy. Hive Architects moved the front door from the center of the outdoor terrace to a position closer to the garages, separating public access from private outdoor space. Between the driveway and entertainment areas, the team installed a tall, perforated aluminum screen that delineates spaces while casting geometric shadows during the day. “The whole thing isn’t given away from the very beginning,” he says.
The revelation starts at the front gate, which mirrors the architecture with white walls flanked by ascending greenery and a perforated screen. Beyond it, the driveway features 6-inch grass joints between shell-top concrete tiles, allowing water to move from stone into soil while the property’s dense vegetation slows runoff, filtering it through root systems before it reaches municipal drains. As you approach the entry, the screen wall offers glimpses of the poolscape beyond. The same screen system continues upstairs to provide privacy for second-floor guest terraces overlooking the driveway.
Step through the front door into the open living area, and the pool reveals itself through floor-to-ceiling glass—an elongated form that draws the eye from the house through the water plane toward the garden. “We wanted a sexy form that extended from the bedroom wall all the way out into the landscape,” he says. The length creates visual pull, making the site feel larger than its footprint.
For the decking, Young used the same terrazzo tile that appears inside the home, scored at 4-foot intervals to form a subtle grid. “We carried that throughout the landscape,” he says. The material continuity erases the threshold between the interior and exterior, making the pool deck feel like an extension of the living room and adjacent primary suite, which is also wrapped in glass, allowing the landscape to be in full view.
Photography by Seamus Payne
pool area glass walls HOME 2026
The pool decking extends the home’s material language: the same terrazzo tile found inside continues outside, scored at 4-foot intervals to form a subtle grid punctuated by verdant growth. Tall bamboo and coconut palms create a lush subtropical screen.
Perimeter plantings read as dense and wild, with tall bamboo groves and coconut palms creating vertical layers that block sightlines from neighboring second-story windows. Mid-zones remain structured but full, with understory palms and philodendrons filling middle heights. Areas near the house and pool are open to soak up the sun and provide plenty of usable space. The effect softens the home’s white geometry while enclosing the property—from the outside, you see a modern volume with screening; from within, you’re surrounded by a botanical garden.
Photography by Seamus Payne
rectangle pool sun chairs palm trees HOME 2026
A zero-edge pool extends the visual plane, drawing the eye from the house through the water toward the garden’s dense canopy. Beyond the pool, a century-old oak was threatened by an encroaching driveway built too close to its root zone. Young relocated the drive 24 feet, preserving the tree while opening circulation space within the garden.
The layering also creates distinct zones, which are only discovered as you move through the space. Near the property’s edge, tucked off the side of the pool, a fire pit with low seating offers an intimate, shaded retreat. Each zone carries its own microclimate and purpose, choreographed to balance activated areas with contemplative pockets.
Photography by Seamus Payne
fire pit near pool HOME 2026
Native and Florida-friendly species are layered by height to create intimate zones throughout the property. Off the pool, a gas fire pit offers a shaded retreat for cooler evenings.
Every plant was chosen to function as part of an ecological system. The clients already had bamboo on site and appreciated the privacy it provided, so Young expanded that strategy, installing five cultivars all the way around the perimeter. But bamboo creates heavy leaf litter, so he paired it with groundcovers that absorb the fallen leaves, allowing them to decompose and fertilize the soil. “It adds to the overall cycle—that’s pretty much our intent for all we do,” he says.
The regenerative ethos also drives the canopy strategy. “We start with plants that are low in demand, and try to create a dense enough canopy so that there’s shade on the majority of the plants, which means they’ll lose less water during the day,” Young says. “It’s a simple but meaningful approach.” Upper-story palms and bamboo shade lower plantings, reducing irrigation needs while creating habitat structure for birds and insects.
Photography by Seamus Payne
modern tropical home perforated facade HOME 2026
To anchor the property’s distinctly Floridian character, Young made palms omnipresent—visible from nearly every vantage point. Silver, coconut, broadleaf lady, sable, buccaneer and Bismarckia varieties establish vertical rhythm and textural diversity.
Among the plantings, palms establish the unmistakable Florida character. “If you walk outside and don’t see a palm tree, you could be anywhere,” Young says. The design includes silver palms (“the slender, canted-out ones,” he says), coconut, broadleaf lady, sable and buccaneer palms, plus several existing Bismarckia palms. Visible from the primary bedroom, large-scale textured plants fill the view: philodendron giganteum, philodendron Burle Marx (“A ground cover that’s nicely scaled,” Young says), liriope and cycads. Half the plants are regional natives—less than typical for DWY—with the majority being Florida-friendly species.
Photography by Seamus Payne
Floor-to-ceiling glass frames bedroom HOME 2026
Floor-to-ceiling glass frames views from the primary bedroom to the pool and garden, where Young replaced turf with Florida-friendly plantings that support biodiversity and stormwater filtration. With no traditional backyard, all outdoor living occurs in what would typically be the front yard—but dense perimeter plantings ensure complete seclusion.
Despite the plant diversity, the color palette is deliberately limited. “We don’t want a bursting array of flowers, but variations of green and textures layered together,” Young says. Some seasonal interest appears—irises and liriope bloom between late spring and early fall—but the emphasis stays on texture, with plants that relate to each other in hue or form. The dwarf sugar palm is planted near the iris and liriope, a pairing of long, thin leaves. “The leaf shapes are similar, but different in size and width, so it lends a feeling of harmony,” he says. Elsewhere, he mixed in monstera and philodendron giganteum to ground finer plantings with fuller, sculptural forms; by the coconut palms, philodendron wolf’s head creates density to hide the wall. The monochromatic approach creates calm. “When it’s more uniform, you can take it all in,” he says. “The more subtle the palette is, the more zen it becomes. We don’t want plants that scream at you.”
Young sees the residence’s design as part of a broader shift. “If people weren’t into natives before the storms of 2024, then they certainly were afterward,” he says. “When you looked around, only the native plants made it through.” In addition to being resilient, the design creates a sense of place—unmistakably Florida and wholly private, despite occupying what is technically a front yard in a city neighborhood. “It’s about authenticity and sustainability, about creating a sense of place,” he says. “Here, you feel connected to both the site and the area around it.”
Photography by Seamus Payne
modern coastal home greenery aerial view HOME 2026
Despite the ecological diversity on display, Young kept his color palette limited, focusing on creating interest with varied textures and forms. “The more subtle the palette is, the more zen-like it becomes. We don’t want plants that are screaming at you,” the landscape architect says.